Automatic train-stop and cab-signal.



Patented 0ct.20,1914.

' of the circuits and part of the structure carltems, and an object ofthe invention is to stop the train under certain conditions.

"CLINTON L.. BOPP, OF WATERLOO, IOWA..

AUTOMATIC 'rnarnsr OP .AN D CAB-SIGNAL.

Speccation of Letters Patent. Application filed February 24, 1913. Serial No.

To all zn/0m t may concern:

Beit known that lf, CLINTON L. BOPP, a citizen of the United' States, residing at Waterloo, in the countyof Blackhawk and State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Train-Stops and Cab-Signals; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such will'enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertainsto make and use the same. y

This invention relates te cab signal'sysprovide circuits which will automatically A further object of the inventioh is to provide a signal system which will automatically actnate the means for starting the setting of brakes, but which will contain a circuit making it possible to check the setting of the brakes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a locomotive with duplicate circuits and duplicate trip levers one of which may be used when the train is traveling in'one direction, and the other of which may be used when the train is traveling in the opposite direction. fvg.

llith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel constructions, arrangements .and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter fully described, and then specifically pointed out in the claims.

The drawing shows a diagrammatic view ried by a locomotive.

The circuits disclosed herein are designed to remain normal when the trip leveren-` gages a live or charged rail, 'and are de- I signed to indicate danger when the rail engagedby the trip lever is dead or uncharged.

ln order to accomplish the foregoing obl' jects, the locomotive 1s provided on each side E thereof with a bracket 1, to which is pivotally connected a tri-p lever 2, carrying an" arm 3, adapted to beengaged by ramp rails g 4 suitably located along the track. [The trip i lever 2 is further providedwith an arm 5 normally held in. u right position by means of the spring 6 and) also' carrying the screw E contact 7 adjustablymounted thereon,1and insulated therefrom. Iihe bracket 1 carriers` an insulator towhich is suitably secured 'ini 34, white lamp 35, wire 36, wire 37,

any manner a metallic contact point 8 which Ais adapted to lmake connection with the screw 7. One of these trip mechanisms is provided on either side of the locomotive so that the locomotive may be able to run in both directions over a single track having ramp rails on one side only.

Normally, the direct current generator 9 is driven by any suitable meansnot shown, and feeds current to a brush 1() from where the current passes through wire 11,' armature 12, contact 13, electromagnet 14, wire 15, electromagnet 16, wire 17, wire 18, metallic contact point 3, screw 7, wire 19, switch 20, to wire 21, wire 22, wire 23, and .back to the generator through the brush Current iiowing in this circuit will hold the -electromagnets 14 and 1G energized, which. will result in the constant attraction ofv armatures 12, and 25, respectively, it being noted that the maintenance of this circuit is dependent upon the contact between the screw 7, and the metallic strip 8. When the armature 12 is in raised position, as shown in the drawings, current will flow from generator 9, brushlO, wire 11, armature 12, contact 26, wire 27, wire 28, solenoid 29, wire 30, wire 22, wire 23, brush 2e, back to the generator 9. Current liowing in this circuit will hold the solenoid 29 normally energized. Slidably mounted within the` solenoid 29, is a core or rod 30, the upper end 31 of which is reduced and is adapted 'to control an air passage 32. The lower end of the core or plunger 30 is provided with a collar and a spring 33, 'so that as soon as the solenoid 29 is denergized, the spring .33 will force the plunger downwardly so that the reduced end 31 will open the passage 32. Vhile this circuit is closed, another circuit is closed through the white lamp which is as follows: generator 9, brush 10, wire 11, armature 12, contact 26, wire wire 23, and back to the generator 9 through the brush 24. rlhus it will be seen thatv under normal conditions, which means that the contact between Screw 7 and Contact 8 is closed, the solenoid 29 will be energized and the white light 35 will be burning. Assume now that the locomotive approaches the end 4oi? a block, and that the arm 3, engages a dead ramp rail 4, the trip lever will be depressed-and the connection between. -the screw 7 and-contact point 8 will be open. As willbe seen by tracing the circuit rammen eee en, inra.-

"38 will burn. Also,

above traced, the breaking of this latter contact will open the circuit through the mag nets 14 and 16. -As soon as the magnet 14 is denergized, the armature 12 will drop until the'same engages the contact point 36, at which time the following circuit will be completed: generator 9, brush 1Q, wire 11. armature 12, Contact 36, wire 37, red lamlJ 33, wire 39, wire 37, wire 23, and backtc the generator 9 through brush 24. `Thus it will be seen that when the arm 3 of the -,trip lever engages a ramp rail, the red light inasmuch as the burning of white light 35 and the continued energization of solenoid 29 depends upon thekeeping of Contact 26 in engagement with armature 12, it will be` seen that both of these devices will be disconnected from the generator 9 when the armature 12 drops to engage contact 36. Therefore, when a dead rail. is engaged, the white light will wardly,

be extinguished, the red lamp will be lighted and the plunger 30 will be forced downwardly by spring 33 to open the passage 32.

Vl/Then the passage 32 is opened, air pressure enteringr pipe 40, as indicated by the arrow, `will force the plunger 41 downbut it will be noted that the passage 32 is very much smaller than the bore within which the plunger 41 moves, so that an ap? preciable time will be required or'the descent of said plunger 41. During this time, ii' the engineer desires to prevent the setting of. the brakes, he will push'the button 42 which is slidably mounted upon the cab and held normally outward by means of the spring 43. l/Vhen the button 42 has been pushed in, the contact arm 44 will contact with the contact point 45, at which time the following circuit will be completed: Current will ilow from the generator 9, over brush 10, wire 11, wire 46, wire 47, contact arm 44, contact point 45, wire 48, wire 23, solenoid 29, wire 30, wire 22, wire 23, and back to generator 9 through brush 24. Thus, the pushing of the button 42 will resultin the renergization ofthe solenoid 2S), and it this renergization has taken place before the plunger 41 has descended to its lower limit, the setting of' the brakes will beprevented. 'It will also be noted that when the button 42 has beenpressed, the following circuit will also he closed: Current will flow from generator 9, brush 10, wire l1, wire 46, wire 47, contact arm 44, contact point 45, wire 27, wire 34, white light 35, wire 36, wire 37, wire 23, and back to the generator 9 through the brush 24. Thus, simultaneous with the re energization of the solenoid 29 and the continued burning of red light 38, the white li ht 35 is caused to burn so that the burning o? the red and white lights together, will indicate caution These results will obtain when the arm 3 engages the dead 4rail section 4. However, when the leverV3 engages a rail section 4 which is live, by mea-ns of any suitable mechanism which it is not necessary to show in this application, but shown in a number of devices in use at present current will rise from ground to rail 4 and pass over arm 3, over the bracket 1, over wire 49, through the switch 20 to wire 50,.l solenoid- 51, and from wire 52 to the ground. This circuit will energize the electromagnet 51, and result in the attraction of the armature 53. lVhen electromagnet 51 is energized, a local circuit will be closed as follows: Current will iow fromgenerator 9, over brush 10, wire 11, wire 46, armature 53, wire 54, electromagnet 55, wire 56, wire 23, and back to the generator 9, through brush 24. Current flowing in this circuit will energize the eleetromagnet 55, which will result in the re-attraetion of the armature 12. iVhen the armature 12 has been re-attracted, the contacts 13 and 26 will be made so that the conditions of the cab will remain as though normal. As a matter ot fact, the' time elapsing between the breaking of the connection between screw 7 and the contact point 8, due to the downward swing of the arm 3, and the energization of electromagnet 55 is so there is practically no movement of the armature 12. Hence, when -the arm 3 engages a live rail'section, the cab Acircuits will remain undisturbed.

As shown in the drawings, the switch 20 is or a double-throw type, the upper prongs thereof being connected to a trip mechanism located upon the opposite side ot the locomotive from that heretofore described, so that when it is desired to use one of these trip mechanisms and throw the other one out of use, it will he merely necessary to throw the switch into correct position.

slight, that As shown in the drawings, the doublethrow switch is in a position for energizing the cab circuits from the left hand trip lever, but if it be desired to use the right hand trip lever, it will be necessary merely to throw the switch in the opposite direction, when circuits will be completed which will be identical with those already traced. It may be desirable to throw this switch when the train is working on a. track where the third rails or ramp rails are located on one side only of the track, -orvit may be desirable to throwthe cab circuits from one of the levers to the other 1n a system having ramp rails on either side of the track when it is found that one of the trip levers has become accidentally inoperative. Also, when the armature of the electromagn'et 16 is unattracted, and the contact arm 44 is touching contact .point 45, the contact will be closed until the electromagnet 16 is again energized, at which time the spring will break the contact. While the device for prolonging the setting of the brakes has been shown las an air valve, with a restricted passage therein, it is to be understood that other devices may be used, s'uch for instance as that disclosed in my Patent 1,085,012.

The operation of the air Valve in this application is somewhat similar to the operation of the valve shown in my co-p'ending application No. 727,955. Air pressure coming in through pipe 40 will pass through the dotted bore 100sc'en in the sliding portion of the valve an will pass to the chamber 101.

The lower piston is larger than the upper inlet pipe 40 and the piston and the air presure will be suliicient because of this, to holdI the valve in raised position. When the stem. 3l is withdrawn from the duct 32,'the air which is in the lower larger chamber will escape through pipe 102 and thereby reduce air presure in the lower larger chamber to such an extent that the pressure acting upon the smaller upper piston 41 will cause the lowering of the sliding portion of the valve, so that communication is established between the air pipe 103 which leads to the brakes. i

The air valve shown in this application is a minor part of the invention and I do not care to be limited toanyv particular kind of val\f'e,inasmuch as this feature of the invention "is claimed in the above-identified application.

What I claim is: 1. In a locomotive cab signal, a source of current, an air valve requiring timeto open` the same, a safety signal, a danger signal, au electro-magnet, an armature adapted to be attracted by said electro-magnet, electro-magnetic means, adapted,'when prevent lthe opening of said air valve, a contact adjacent said armature adapted to b e connected with said armature when the latter is attracted, a'circuit including said source, said electro-magnetic means, said safety signal, said contact and said armature adapted to be closed when the armature is attracted by the electromagnet associated therewith, a second con- .tact adjacent said armature' adapted to be engaged thereby when the electro-magnet associated with saidv armature releases the latter, a circuit including said source, said danger signa-l, said second contact and said armature adapted to he closed when the armature is released, a switch, a circuit including said source, said switch, said electro# magnetic controlling means, said switch adapted to be closed when the armature has been released by the electro-magnet associated therewith to break connection with the first mentioned contact, and means to energize said electro-magnet associated with' the armature.

2. In a locomotive cab signal systerm'a valve requiring electro-magnet1c source of current, an air time to open the same,

means adapted, when energized, to prevent the opening' of said air valve,` a safety signal, a danger signal, an electro-magnet, an armature for said electro-magnet, a

contact associated Lwith said armature adapted to be connected with-said armature when the latter is attracted by the electroinagnet, a circuit includingsaid source, said electro-magnetic, means associated with the air valve, said safety signal, said ar1nature and said contact associated with the armature, a second contact associated with said'armature adapted to engage the latter when the same is released by the electromagnet associated therewith, a circuit including said source, said danger signal, means to energize and denergize the electro magnet 'associated with the armature, a switch, a circuit including said source, said switch and said electro-magnetic means controlling the air valve, 'and another circuit including said source, said switch, and said safety signal, said switch adapted to be closed when the armature is released, thereby causing the safety and danger signals to be actuated simultaneously. l

In testimony whereof I aiiix'my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

CLINTON L. BOPP.

copies of this patent may be obtained' for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Yatenta, Wallington, DIC. 

